THE SILK ROAD RUN: 7. BUDA PLUS PEST EQUALS BUDAPEST!!

Trying to maintain our schedule allowing for any problems along the way, we stayed in Budapest for two nights. Buda, Pest, and Obuda were incorporated into one city officially in the 1873. Prior to that time, Buda was a separate city on one side of the Danube river with Pest on the other. The city is deeply woven into the history of Eastern Europe. The river at night is probably the best known attraction. Historic buildings are on its banks and beautiful older bridges cross it. We did take one of the night river cruises to see the lights of the city. During the day, the humidity and heat made foot travel unpleasant. Street parking is a problem. Parking half on the side walk is permitted in most places. It would help in England also if cars weren't parked in both directions on the same side of the street all the time. Sometimes one never knows if its a two way street or a one way street, then in which direction if a one way. The "one way" signs are not always in the same location.

Like other major cities in Europe, the old streets are a complex driving challenge. Neither driver or navigator have a chance of success the first time in finding a particular location or address (or on the second attempt,or third.....) The same ribbon of road may change names every few blocks. All the locals must have really good eye sight because the street signs if there are any when you need them are so small from any distance that one can't read them.

We left Budapest yesterday at a much slower driving pace because of two lane country roads. The day's travel ended at Deva in eastern Romania northwest of Bucharest. Finding a place to stop or a hotel if we need a hot shower is always a challenge. There didn't appear to be much luck when we started looking in Deva. It appeared we were going to have to turn around and head back more into town than continuing on the road we were on. We stopped and Robert asked at a gas station. The young guy told him we had just passed a hotel. The road we were on was all under repair and a mess. We thought we may as well stop and look at what was there for a room. The place is like 1950's on the inside. Nice room, and a very nice dining room. WiFi at the hotel too. We thought we were the only guests in the place. There were two other people in the dining room for breakfast this morning that we saw. I hope business improves for them. Road construction can be a hardship on any type of business. We are in the province of "Transylvania" so I kept my neck covered all night. We are approximately a days drive to Bucharest.

The ambulance is running fine without problems. Looking forward to another day of hot weather driving. The border crossings have been without problems for us. Some of the other team posts have commented on chaos at border crossings in other countries we are not going through.

All the best,

Norbert

Budapest Has Many Old Historic Buildings.

The Shop Owner Didn't Like Us Photographing His Snake Window Scene.

All The Public Phones Have Pink Hand Sets??

Buda Castle On The Danube At Night

Map Quest 101 Again...

Romanian Border Crossing. This Place Looks Like The Head Customs Agent's Brother -In-Law's Stand Even Though You Have To Purchase And Pay Entry Taxes and Fees At Them.